Mary Read Full-time Lecturer Clinical Training Director (657) 278-2167 Office: EC-484 mread@fullerton.edu

Personal Biography

As an alumna of this program (1984), I feel very proud and happy to have been involved with the department for the past twenty years. Teaching full time, overseeing the fieldwork practica as the Clinical Training Director, and being the advisor for the Counseling Alumni Association allows me to keep in contact with current and former students, watching them grow and develop in the field.

Raised in a small village in southeastern Wisconsin, I went to college to study music, first in Kansas City, then Philadelphia, graduating with a performance degree in voice. My musical background gives me an appreciation for harmony, balance, and the therapeutic use of vocal tone. I moved to California in 1980 intending to go to nursing school, but chose a different caregiving profession. Having lived here longer than anywhere else, I now consider myself a "transplanted native" Californian. My life-partner and I live in Long Beach with our two beloved cats and enjoy making art, walking by the beach, working for social justice, and socializing with our friends and 'family of choice' in a vibrant community.

When I attended CSUF I was an older, working student, as are many of our students today. I first heard about the program because some of my friends were attending, and I liked the changes they were making in their lives. Although I didn't know much about the counseling field at that time, I was drawn to the sense of self my friends were finding from their participation in classes and counseling experiences. One of the things I appreciate most about this field is the chance (and challenge) of continued personal growth. My humanistic/existential stance informs my growth, as I believe we are constantly faced with choices about freedom and responsibility, and that we will naturally change when we see that the benefits outweigh the costs.

Teaching Interests

I have been teaching here part-time since 1990, the year I also began private practice as a licensed MFT in Los Alamitos. I enjoy the balance of bringing my own clinical examples into the classroom, and taking what I learn by teaching and doing research back to my clients. My passion is mentoring students into finding and expressing their own authentic selves in their therapeutic work, by lifting judgment and allowing compassion within clear boundaries.

The teaching philosophy of the College of Health & Human Development (CHHD, of which our department is a part) mirrors my own: that knowledge is evolving and socially constructed, and learning is produced through an interaction of different perspectives that enable students to connect their education to their own experience. Based on this belief, I facilitate a collaborative learning style in my classes, where all voices are valued and no question is ever foolish. Students are encouraged to self-reflect, and to share their experiences in order to enrich everyone's learning.

Over the years, I have taught most of the courses we offer in the program at one time or another. I enjoy the broad view of counselor education that this variety of experience has brought. Currently, I teach the very first class in the program (500), an introduction to the counseling profession. Watching new students light up as they discover more about the wonderful career options open to them, and helping them sort out some of their priorities for the rest of their educational process is a delight to me. In addition, I teach a course on family systems (527), focusing on the systemic theories that are central to the professional identity of the MFT field, and one of the counseling fieldwork practica, either the first (530) or second (584) semester.

In my role as the Clinical Training Director I enjoy strengthening relationships with the non-profit counseling agencies already familiar with the program (many of whom employ our alumni), while forging new ones. After working with these agencies for over thirteen years as a practicum instructor, I am enthusiastic about the level of growth and support for students and the surrounding communities offered by the fieldwork practica.

Research interests